JD's March Break Hockey Tournament

JD had a hockey tournament on Tuesday.


He played three games against teams in other leagues. Some from out of town.


He also got a medal, a hot dog lunch, and had a blast.


I just love watching his games. He has improved so much since starting hockey this year.


His team won one game and lost the other two.


He scored a nice goal in game two, and their team ended up winning that game 3-1.

His last hockey game of the season is this Saturday. Go Detroit!

Cookies from The Big Apple

My Mom went to visit my sister in Manhattan last week and brought back some fun treats for the kids.

The sugar cookies were decorated so nicely, but the gingerbread bear was my favourite to eat.

Thanks Grandma!


Nathan had already eaten half of the taxicab before I snapped this last picture...

Bath Time

Nathan loves baths.

This morning he said to me: Mom... Can I have a bath?

Me: You just had a bath last night. Let's go play with your cars.

Nathan: Mom! I need to go in the bath!

Me: It's not bath time. Let's play a game.

Nathan: MOM! I want to take a bath right now!!!

Me: Nathan, you can have a bath later. Do you want to read a book with me?

(He thinks for a second about what would be more convincing.)

Nathan: But Mom... I'm soooo dirty!

(I hide in the kitchen so he can't see me laughing.)

...

Five minutes later:

You Might Want to Steer Clear of our House this Weekend

Last night, just as I was coming home from taking the kids to piano, Scott and Nathan got sick.

I was secretly grateful we were a few minutes late getting home so that Scott had to be the one to scrub out the carpet.

(Don't tell him I said that)

Don't worry, I had my turn later when Brett and JD were sick several times over, from the hours of 8 PM until this morning. Luckily, they managed to hit the toilet, a bowl, or the bed sheets and blankets almost every time.

By 5:00 AM our hampers were overflowing and we were down to using just sleeping bags.

Clara also had a high fever all night and Samantha has been coughing and aching as well.

I've been feeling inklings of similar symptoms coming on, but I refuse to let them get any worse.

If I get sick, who is going to plow through the laundry, clean out the bowls of sickness, and administer the Motrin and Vicks Vaporub?

Change

The only thing constant in life is change.

This year has brought about two new changes in our lives.

1. In January, Scott was called to serve as the Bishop of our Ward at church.

2. This July we will be moving!

After looking for several months at dozens of homes, we finally decided to build a new home. We found a nice lot in a subdivision just outside of the city in a great, family-friendly neighbourhood.

We have been in this condo for 10 (plus) years and this will be our first real move since we've been married. We are very excited!

If you want to read and see details of our home-building project, you can do that here.

Clara: 16 Months

It has been so fun to watch Clara grow up over the last few months. She is starting to seem less like a baby and more like a little girl.

She loves to be around other people, and seldom will stay in a room by herself (unless she's trying to play with or eat something she's not allowed to have, in which case she makes a beeline for the nearest exit).

She adores Samantha, Brett and Jesse and can say each of their names. She also adores Nathan, but she sees him more as competition right now rather than an adoring big brother.

She also loves her parents, Grandma, Nana & Papa, and her Uncle Jeff & Aunt Lindsey.

Clara is a very happy girl who smiles and laughs a lot. But when she's not happy about something she will let us know with her dirty looks. Like this:

She spends a lot of time with her two left fingers in her mouth. It's her own unique version of thumb-sucking.

Clara loves to sing. She can actually hum or babble to recognizable tunes (ABCD is one of her favourites. She also loves the Popcorn Song and I Am a Child of God.) Clara will sit on your lap for as long as you want her to if you keep her entertained with songs.

Clara is very mischievous and curious. She likes to explore things and play with anything other than her toys. She empties our kitchen cupboards on a regular basis and she also loves to sneak into the dirty clothes baskets and carry around dirty washcloths (eeeewwww!)

Project Life 2010

I decided to start something this year called Project Life.

If you are familiar with Becky Higgins, you might already know what Project Life is all about.

But before I get a head of myself, let's back up a bit.

Almost 10 years ago, after Samantha was born, I found a new hobby... scrapbooking.

I spent the next two years scrapbooking every cute picture of Samantha in beautiful handcrafted albums.  I loved having this new creative outlet and spent a lot of time (and money) on scrapbooking and scrapbook supplies. 

By the end of 2003 our family was growing, Scott was done school, and we had a demanding start-up business in the works.  I found that caring for three children ages 3 and under was keeping me a little too busy for scrapbooking.

I wanted to keep it up, but just couldn't find the time.  But I didn't want to give up paper crafting all together. So when a friend of mine introduced me to stamping, I found a happy medium, in the form of card-making.

Card-making was less time consuming than scrapbooking, and fulfilled that creative outlet.  I decided to go with it.

Fast forward to January 2010.  Babies number four and five have joined our family and life is just keeping us too busy with work, church callings, and new home planning.  Sadly, my card-making has gone the way of the scrapbooks.

Yes, I can still whip up a simple birthday card when needed, or some homemade valentines or other small projects, but it just isn't the hobby it once was. 

The worst part, though, is that our bookshelves are looking a little too skimpy in the photo album department.  I just have never managed to keep on top of printing our digital pictures and getting them into albums.

And that was unacceptable to me.  That, alone, was reason enough to try this new project. 

So... for $39.00 (US) plus shipping, I plan to "scrapbook" a complete album of family pictures, including journaling, for the entire year.  One picture a day, every day for the year.

I'll let you know how it goes!

Recipe Time: Mandarin Chicken & Rice

This is a really good recipe when you don't have a lick of groceries in the house, and you need dinner on the table in 25 minutes. Every single ingredient here can come from your food storage (if you choose) and it is really easy to make.

The ingredients are completely approximated, so you can dump in whatever you like or have on hand. I've made it dozens of times, and it's evolved over the years. I use it as a rough guideline, as opposed to an actual recipe.

Mandarin Chicken & Rice

Chicken - I throw some boneless, skinless chicken breasts in the oven until cooked and then chop / tear them into bite sized pieces and set aside.  Alternately, you can use canned chicken (I've only tried the Costco brand) if you don't have fresh or frozen chicken.  Drain and set aside.

1-3 cans of mandarin oranges.  Drain and set aside but make sure to reserve all of the liquid to use in the sauce.

Mushrooms - I like to use smaller sized fresh mushrooms and there's no need to slice them.  If yours are a little larger then cut them in half.

Rice - Go ahead and get it cooking because dinner will be ready soon.  We've also tried this over egg noodles and that tastes good too.  I prefer  rice, but either will work.

To make the sauce, first you saute the mushrooms for a few minutes in your pan.

Next add 2-3 cans of cream of mushroom soup (depends how many people you are feeding).

Whisk in the mandarin juice and a good splash of soy sauce (about 1/3 cup).

Add some garlic & ginger.  I use the freshly chopped refrigerated kind.  I use about a tsp each or so. 

Add a good dash of pepper and a bit of salt to taste (the soy sauce is salty already).

Next you need to decide how thick you like your sauce.  I usually add a little more liquid in the form of milk or water.

When you're just about ready to eat, add in your chicken and stir while it gets nice and hot in the sauce.  You want to heat it through without cooking it any more. 

Last thing you do is gently stir in the mandarins, as they tend to break up if you add them earlier.

Serve over hot rice (or noodles).

Enjoy!

Weekend in Victoria

Last weekend was our National Championship Event for Play On!  We spent a fantastic weekend in Victoria BC.  This was my second time visiting this beautiful city.  The first time was about 20 years ago.

The weather was great, although it did drizzle almost all day on Saturday.  Not the best for an outdoor event, but at the same time, amazing considering it was, on average, about -20 degrees everywhere else in the country.  We were fluctuating between about 6 and 9 degrees.

There were 30 teams total (26 in the Men's Division, 4 in the Women's).  For more details on the event, you can visit the Nationals page on our website here and more news on the website here.

Also worth reading is an article here, and be sure to click through the pictures.  There is a great one of Commanding officer Chris Ellis dropping the "puck" during the Celebrity Game (more about him later).

CBC did some live coverage as part of Hockey Day in Canada.  If you click here and go to minutes 4 and 44, you will see the interviews that were on National TV.  

Here are some more highlights of the trip:

Flying out to Victoria was a long trip.  I had 2 stops totaling 11 hours of travel time.  Not having kids with me made it seem relaxing instead of long.  I read books, watched a movie on the longer flight, and enjoyed eating airplane snacks without anyone spilling them on the floor.

Our partner hotel was the lovely Hotel Grand Pacific.  They put Scott and I up in a fancy suite.  It had a huge entry way with beautiful hardwood, an over-sized bedroom and ensuite complete with jacuzzi tub, a living room with fireplace, and a dining room with more counter space than I have in my kitchen at home.

We got to see my little brother for the first time in almost two years.  It was great to see him and catch up a bit.  Miss you, Sami!

We also got to see Scott's brother, one of his sisters (and brother-in-law), and two of our nephews, who all came out from Alberta. It was so good of them to all come out and help us work all weekend.  Especially Parker & Matt, who couldn't be dragged away from the rinks on Saturday to eat lunch or get warmer clothes.  They were awesome! 

After the event was over, Commander Ellis invited us to come down to the Naval Base to have a tour of the HMSC Victoria, one of only four submarines in Canada.  This was absolutely fascinating! 

To explain a portion of the things I learned about submarine life or to tell you how much I loved the tour would require another blog post of it's own.   That's not going to happen, so I figure giving it two mentions on my list would be the next best alternative.  It was an incredible, once in a lifetime experience.

I found the people in Victoria to be very friendly.  I don't think I've ever met a friendlier group of people other than in Newfoundland. I guess Canada has friendly coasts... ?!

On the way home we flew through Seattle and I got to see my dear friend Shaunie for the first time in years!   Shaunie and I became friends when our husbands started their MBAs together (back in the good old days, as I like to call it).  We were first time Mom's with baby girls the same age and we got together at least once a week to scrapbook and share recipes and talk about our babies.  It was just like old times, visiting at the Dish D'Lish in the Seattle airport, and it was so good to see her!

My Mom & the Puddicombes took such great care of our kids while we were away.  I don't even think they missed us being gone. 

Lots of work.  Lots of fun.  Great memories.

The Camera Loves Nathan

Nathan's new favourite pastime is posing for pictures.

It goes down like this:

Nathan comes to me and says, "Mom, take a picture of me!"

I grab the camera and wait for him to smile and say, "Cheese."

He does so, and then hurries over to look at the camera screen to see the picture show up.

Then he runs back in front of the camera and strikes some crazy pose he thinks up in the moment. Usually it is something totally random and half the time he's purposely not looking directly at the camera and / or not smiling.

He holds this pose until I take the picture.

Then he comes over for another look. Sometimes he'll say something like, "Cool" when he sees what it turns out like.

Then he'll do it all over again.

And again.

And again.

One of the funny things about this is that he does not get tired of posing. We only stop when I distract him with another activity.

I am the kind of person who much prefers to be behind the camera.  I'm pretty sure he gets this trait from his Aunt Jordana.

Here's a small sampling of his photo shoot on New Year's Eve. (What makes these even more funny is Nathan's dirty face.) 

Pictures of Oscar

Some pictures to go along with Oscar's story.  He was such a beautiful cat. 

The Story of Oscar: Part 2

Thank you for your kind words about Oscar. For those of you who haven't read Part 1 of Oscar's Story, you can find it here.

I didn't intend to wait a week to post Part 2, nor did I intend to keep any of you in suspense. Sometimes life tends to get in the way of blogging.

So, back to Oscar's story...

Jessica and I didn't want to get rid of this cute little kitten we had been raising, but it was clear we couldn't keep him in the apartment. Our roommates were starting to reach their limit and were hinting at what kinds of "accidents" might occur should we happen to leave kitty (he was still unnamed at this time) home alone.

One day Jessica came to me and said that she had decided to give me (and Scott) the kitten as a wedding gift. She asked our roommates to please consider letting him stay with us for just a little longer, since I was moving out in only a few short weeks. They reluctantly agreed.

The next couple of weeks were filled with last minute wedding plans, exams, and pet lessons from Jessica. She helped me get him vaccinated, taught me how to train him (he was just starting to use kitty litter), the best kinds of food to feed him, and anything else she could think of.

During that time, he had been given a name, finally. It was actually Scott who suggested naming him Oscar and I thought it suited him nicely.

Soon enough it was time to load up all of my belongings into my navy blue Oldsmobile and leave Utah. Oscar was tucked safely in his cool purple cat carrier, and we were off to start a new life back in Ontario.

By the way, did I mention I also had a pet turtle named Chuckles? He was coming along for the big move too. The three of us drove up to Edmonton to pick up Scott, and then we all set off to drive home together.

I wish I could tell you that getting home from Edmonton was uneventful, but that would be a lie. Scott and I had an adventure that rivaled John Candy and Steve Martin's in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles.

That, however, is another story for another day. Suffice it to say that we did eventually make it home safe with Oscar and Chuckles. Sadly, we had to abandon the Oldsmobile in Kenmare, North Dakota.

Oscar was a fun and playful kitten. We used to have this ledge in our house that he would run across and play games. He would bat at our hands or a ball, and was pretty coordinated.

He used to catch birds and mice and once in a while he would bring them back to us as a gift.

After he destroyed the living room furniture and curtains we decided to get his front claws removed.

This didn't stop him from catching birds, mice, or getting into fights with other cats in the neighbourhood. Oscar was definitely known as the alpha male around here. He wasn't scared of anyone. He was always a fighter.

One of the things I loved most about Oscar is how gentle he was with our kids. When our oldest daughter was born, someone suggested that we bring a hat home from the hospital for Oscar to smell before we brought Samantha home to meet him.

It must have worked because Oscar loved our babies from the minute they were born. We have a picture of him "guarding" Samantha while she sleeps in her carseat, just a few days old.

Oscar was pretty indifferent to other kids that came over. He would never hurt them, but he would usually run and hide in one of his favourite spots until they left.

But he loved our kids. He would let Nathan grab his tail, lay on top of him, tickle him, touch his paws and nose.

Oscar loved to come to the family room in the evenings and see if Scott was there so he could jump onto his lap and get some attention. The only time he came to my lap was when I was pregnant. Oscar loved laying on my pregnant belly. But as soon as I had the baby, he would go back to Scott's lap.

Before he got sick, he used to love going outside. Last summer, just before we left to go out West, we noticed that he hadn't been eating very well. By the time we got back from our trip he had stopped eating dry food altogether.

Soon after that we started to notice changes in his behaviour that were concerning. He rarely went outside. He spent entire days laying in one of his favourite spots. He loved to go on our bed, in our closet, under Samantha's bed, or under Clara's crib.

We took him into the vet, but after treating him for an infection, and then later pulling two of his teeth, he still wasn't improving. He was losing weight at an alarming rate, he wasn't eating, and he just seemed to be miserable all the time. He was vomiting constantly, and because he wasn't eating food, it was mostly bile that came up.

We had some more testing done and the news wasn't good. The vet broke the bad news that Oscar either was either fighting cancer or severe organ failure.

The rest of the story is too sad to write. After watching him suffer like he did, I'm glad that he is in a good place now.

It's kind of weird being able to take a glass of water to bed and not worry about Oscar knocking it over at night. And I miss not having cat food on the grocery list. And every time I don't have to move his water bowl when Clara plays in the kitchen, I miss him again.

I like to think that he had a great life with us and that he was happy here. He sure was loved. Not just by Scott and I and our children, but by neighbours, extended family, and friends. He was a very special cat and will be greatly missed and fondly remembered for years to come.

In loving memory of Oscar, March 13, 1999 - Jan 8, 2010.

The Story of Oscar: Part 1

Some of you know that last week our family said good-bye to our cat, Oscar.

It was a bittersweet time. It's always hard to lose someone you love, and we were very sad to see him go. But we were comforted slightly in knowing that he would finally be free from the suffering he had endured at the end of his life.

I think it would be an appropriate time to share Oscar's story.

It started in March of 1999. I was going to University and Scott and I were 2 months away from getting married. My roommate, Jessica, who worked as a Vet Technician, came home one day with a tiny animal in her shirt pocket.

I almost had a hard time recognizing him as a kitten, as he was only three days old, his eyes weren't open yet, he didn't have a lot of fur, and frankly he looked more like a drowned rat.

Obviously I hadn't had much experience with baby animals up until that time. But that was about to change.

This poor kitten had been abandoned by his mother, as she was only about 9 months old when she gave birth. His only other sibling had not survived the abandonment. But Oscar was a fighter.

He came home with Jessica and the two of us started taking care of him right away. We made him a warm home out of a shoebox, a hot water bottle, some soft towels, and a couple stuffed animals.

We bottle fed him every two hours around the clock. This was no small feat, as we were both full time students, Jessica also worked quite a bit and I was planning to move back to Ontario just couple of weeks before our wedding.

But we set our alarm clocks and took turns getting up with him at night. We ran home to feed and check on him in-between classes and during lunch breaks. We coordinated schedules and made it work. We saved our pennies to pay for his food and supplies.

Within a few weeks it was apparent that he was growing, thriving, and starting to get really cute.

However, in the meantime, we found out that the apartment we were living in had a strict NO PETS rule. And even though Jessica and I could most likely have kept him a secret from the management under ordinary circumstances, at least for a while, we had another problem.

There were two other roommates living with us at the time who despised cats and were horrified to have one in the house. They were constantly giving us a hard time about the kitten and threatening to have him evicted.

More about Oscar in Part 2, coming soon....

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Here are some things we are enjoying this season:

Putting up our Christmas tree (We have an artificial tree but I thought the Silver Fir scented oil from the Body Shop burning in the living room was a great added touch.)

Getting creative with rolled sugar cookies, coloured icing and sprinkles. Oh, and we've already been through a couple batches of chewy molasses ginger cookies, my all-time favourite.

The Nativity production at church was outstanding.

Christmas parties, dinners, recitals, concerts, get-togethers... I think we've been averaging three functions a week since the beginning of the month.

Remember the Pretzel Hugs from last year? Yeah. Lots more of those. I found red and green Christmas M&Ms this year! These went out to teachers, friends, neighbours, and JD's hockey teammates at their last practice before Christmas.

Samantha enjoyed her Secret Santa week at school.

Opening cards, letters, and photos from friends and family near and far. We haven't managed to get any out ourselves, but we are loving receiving all of yours.

Snuggling up at night with blankets, popcorn, hot chocolate, and good Christmas movies. We will likely do more of this now that the kids are out of school.

Outdoor skating downtown with friends followed by hot chocolate, treats, and games and Grandma's apartment. Our kids declared it the best Christmas vacation day ever!

I hope you are all delighting in your holiday celebrations and finding JOY in the wonders of Christmas.

It's Hard To Say Goodbye

We have had such beautiful weather this fall!

Our kids have been wearing sweatshirts, vests and light jackets to school in the mornings, and lots of days they have them stuffed in their backpacks when they get home in the afternoon.

I remember lots of Halloweens with snow on the ground, but now, with December only a week away, we still haven't seen our first snowfall.

As much as I am loving this great weather, it has proven to be rather deceiving, as I have just now started realizing that Christmas is around the corner.

I admit that although I am not always, I have been known in the past, to be one of those people who are done Christmas shopping by (Canadian) Thanksgiving.

Now, with Christmas only a month away, the only thing I have done to start preparing is listen to a little Christmas Music.

And that's mostly due to the fact that our children are practicing their songs daily for their Christmas Piano Recital which is coming up in a few weeks.

I know that in the near future I will be exited about lights and candy canes and shopping lists and Christmas parties and baking and stockings and secret gift wrapping late at night while the kids are asleep.

But for now I'm happy to enjoy this season just a tiny bit longer, while it lasts.

Two Thumbs Up

I turned 31 a couple of weeks ago.

Scott took me to Toronto, along with Samantha and Brett, to see The Sound of Music at the Princess of Whales Theatre.

It was an absolutely wonderful show, and I enjoyed it immensely.

It was also delightful to go out with just the older children for a night. We had some good talks, good food, and good laughs together before the show and they both enjoyed their first real theatrical experience.

A few of you have asked how it was or if I would recommend it. My answer is yes - I highly recommend it and would see it again in a heartbeat!

(photo source: http://www.toronto-theatre.com/)

Making Memories at Colasanti's

We went to visit Nana & Papa when the kids had a PD Day.

While down there, we got to visit one of our favourite spots - Colasanti's Tropical Gardens.

Here are some things we love about this place:

• Feeding the goats
• Snakes, birds, deer, fish, bats, lemurs, and so many other fun animals to see
• Famous Fried Chicken
• Delicious Homemade Donuts
• Jugs of fresh Peach Juice
• Rides for the kids (the Bumble Bees are always a hit)
• Mini Golf
• Pony Rides
  
• Beautiful plants of all kinds
• Big Red Wagons to ride in

The Bumper Cars were new this year. (Ask me how heartbroken Nathan was when everyone in the family was tall enough to go in one except for him and Clara.)